At my guild, Ottawa Valley Weavers’ and Spinners’ we have a large formal meeting with a program on the first Monday of the month and on all the other Mondays we have a casual social night. bring your wheel or knitting or what ever you like and just have fun with like minded people.
This Monday we there was lots going on. There were spinners and knitters.
Jan brought in some Sheep for the Demo boxes. they came back to the guild a short time ago from being used in a school program. they needed a little hair dressing and now they will go out for demos.
Some people were trying to fix the brake on a loom.
Elizabeth was teaching some one how to make a warp using the cool little paddle to speed things up .
and this is Judy carding cotton into punies ( probably spelled really wrong)
and this is a link( or maybe it will show. to Judy’s YouTube video of spinning cotton on a Lego charkha.
The Winner of the Beyond Nuno Giveaway is … Wendy who commented on February 25th. Congratulations, Wendy 🙂 Please will you leave a comment on this post so I can email you with the download details, Thanks 🙂 Thanks a lot for entering and for leaving such nice comments, everyone 🙂
A Guide to The Felting and Fiber Studio Site
We’ve had a lot of new visitors to the Studio site recently, and lots of new members on the forum, so I thought it might be time to do a reminder about everything we have to offer here on the Studio site. Before we started the blog just over a year ago, the four of us spent about 6 weeks working on the site, filling it with as much info as we could. We wanted to build the site into a valuable ‘One-Stop’ resource for anyone interested in felting and fibre.
The ‘About Us’ page tells you a little bit about why we started the Studio site, and there are sub pages for each of us with some info about ourselves and our interests.
In the Felting section there’s a short introduction about the many different kinds of felting. The main pages for Machine, Needle, Nuno and Wet felting all have more in-depth information, and each has a gallery page with many different examples of that particular type of felting.
Mixed media simply means artwork that is made with more than one medium, but for the purpose of the site we use it to mean artwork made mainly with felt or fabric combined with other materials. This section features pages about Beads and Beading, Hand Stitching, Machine Stitching and Surface Design. Each page’s gallery features many examples of artwork.
The Fibers section is packed full of information about wool and other animal fibres. The main Fibers page explains some of the different terms that are used to describe wool in its various stages of processing. The Wool and Other Animal Fibers page has a lot of information about wool, animal fibres from animals such as Alpaca, Angora goat, Llama and Camel. There is also an explanation of the Micron and Bradford Count systems of measuring a fibre’s fineness or coarseness; and a PDF guide to the most common sheep breeds and their Bradford and Micron numbers. The gallery page features photos of different animal fibres. Preparing Fibers has a guide to processing your own wool, from washing a raw fleece to carding it into fluffy batts ready for felting or spinning. There is a photo set and detailed description.
The Other Fibers section has lots of information about the non animal fibres we commonly use in felting, such as silk and organza fabrics; fibre prepared into tops like bamboo, banana, viscose, and the more unusual fibres like crimped nylon, plastic and Angelina fibres.
The Silk page shows the many different silk products available, for example, silk carrier rods, silk hankies and silk throwster’s waste and the gallery page features many uses of these. The Man-made fibers page and its gallery have examples of fibres and their uses including commercial art yarns and some nuno felt examples with synthetic fabrics. The Plant Based Fibers page has many examples of these gorgeous luxurious fibres and felted pieces using them.
The Tutorials section is another area with a wealth of information. There are free Dyeing, Felting, Fiber preparation and Mixed media tutorials all written by one of us, including a video on how to make your own roving using a diz, PDFs on Degumming silk and dyeing it; Stitching on felt, making mixed media wall art, using a sander for wet-felting, a beginners guide to using a drop spindle and dyeing with food colouring.
And if you can’t find what you want there, there are also links to outside sites in the Links/Resources section, including rosiepink’s free felting tutorials and their fantastic e-book showing how to make amazing felt artwork and Ruth’s book The Complete Photo Guide To Felting.
So, make yourself comfortable and come and have a look around the site. We’re always happy to read comments and listen to suggestions for adding more to the site, or to requests for articles or tutorials. Maybe you are a fibre artist with an interesting skill that would make a great feature or you’d like us to link to a tutorial, if you have anything felt or fibre related you want to tell us about, we’d love to hear about it 🙂
Hi I’m Ann and I live just outside the capital of Canada on a small sheep farm. Like Ruth, I had a journey to finding felt. At one time, we milked our sheep and I learned to make soap with the milk that wasn’t suitable for making cheese. On a soap list I followed, there was a link for how to felt around a bar of soap. I went and had a look and bought a kit to needle felt a sheep. I enjoyed making the sheep but felting around the soap really grabbed me. From there I took some lessons in wet felting and knew I had found what I was looking for. I’ve had a life long love of wool but hate knitting, now I could indulge my love of wool and hand spun yarn. These days I don’t do much needle felting, I spend my time exploring wet felting techniques.
Felting 3, 2 1
Q-3 Three types of fiber you can’t live without
Well, fine merino is my favourite wool for next to the skin applications. It is soft, easy to dye and felts quickly. I love silk; roving and hankies are my favourite way to make the wool sparkle. The third would have to be novelty yarns especially had spun ones. I am learning to spin novelty yarns for embellishing my felt.
Q-2 Two tools you use all the time
My reed mat is my best tool. I have a large one that covers my 4×8 table so I can do large pieces or several small ones. The second would have to be my Tupperware starburst lid. I use this lid to rub my wet felt; it really saves you wearing off your fingerprints.
Q-1 One fiber art technique you love the most
I would have to say nuno felting. I love the textured effect of the wool and woven fabric together. It’s so versatile; I can make a whole new fabric or decorate with it.
I am looking forward to working with my felting friends here and sharing with our followers. I am excited about getting pushed outside my box and expanding my horizons.
I thought I would talk a little about my life prior to discovering wool and felting. It just goes to show that you never know where you’re going to end up in life.
My path in life has definitely not been straight but it’s been interesting. I was never sure what I wanted to be when I grew up and could never understand how someone at the age of 18 or 19 knew exactly what they wanted to do for the rest of his/her life. I was encouraged to get a degree in Physical Therapy by my parents, as one of their friend’s daughter was a P.T. and she “had a good career”. I worked as a Physical Therapist for 15 years and then decided that I couldn’t keep doing something I didn’t enjoy. I then took a giant leap of faith by opening a fine craft gallery with my sister, moving from Florida to Northwest Montana in the process. Most people thought I had lost my mind (including my parents). But I think life is short and it’s really important to do what you love.
Felt Scrap Bowl
That was thirteen years ago and even though I had no retail knowledge, I have survived. It has been a real learning experience. I love hand crafted work but had never found any craft that I was passionate about until I discovered fiber and felting in 2007. It all started with a magazine article about making silk paper. I got the supplies and made several silk paper projects. Then I started looking online for other fiber arts and discovered felting. I started with needle felting and then tried wet felting, nuno felting, machine needle felting as well as a variety of mixed media techniques with felting. The first time I made my own piece of felt cloth out of a pile of fibers, I was hooked.
FELTING 3,2,1
Q-3 Three types of fiber you can’t live without
I love playing with lots of different fibers and different wool breeds. It’s so fun to see how each one reacts differently to the felting process. Limiting me to three favorites is difficult. One fiber I use frequently is Mixed 56’s and I like it because it is inexpensive, it felts easily and I can use it for felting the small cat toys and other production items that I sell. Another fiber I love is silk in all its forms. The sheen of the silk against wool is always beautiful. I have just recently discovered short fiber merino batts and they are wonderful. They felt so quickly, are simple to lay out and if I made beads or cords frequently, it would be a must have fiber.
Q-2 Two tools you use all the time
Lately, I would have to say that the most used tools have been my sewing machine and a borrowed drum carder. I love to use felt as the base for free motion machine embroidery. The textures you can create with thread and felt are amazing. The drum carder is an absolutely wonderful tool and I have one on my wish list. I recently washed a Merino fleece and have been carding the wool. It is also great fun to combine and blend a variety of fibers to make one-of-a-kind batts.
Q-1 One fiber art technique you love the most
Again, it is difficult to choose just one technique. I love to experiment and try different techniques so that would probably fall under Mixed Media. One part of Mixed Media that I have been experimenting with recently is surface design techniques on felt such as screen printing, stamping, discharge, and use of resists such as flour paste.
I am really excited to be joining these other talented felters in our “studio”. I hope you’ll follow along and jump into the felting and fiber fun with us.
Hi, I’m Zed and I live in North West England, in the UK
I’ve been felting for about 3 years and love trying out different fibres and incorporating them into felt to achieve unique effects. I also love trying out different wool breeds and other animal fibres to create texture and add interest to felt.
Felting 3, 2, 1
Q-3 Three types of fibre you can’t live without!
The two fibres I use the most are Merino wool and silk, so I’d have to include them. I don’t know which to choose for the third, I have a different favourite each week, this week it’s nylon 🙂
Q-2 Two tools you use all the time!
This is a hard one too. I think I’d find it very hard to make felt the way I like to without netting, my rubber mat and wooden dowel.
Q-1 One fibre art technique you love the most!
Definitely wet felting, it still fascinates me that I can add some soapy water and some agitation to a pile of fluffy fibres and have a unique piece of strong fabric half an hour later.
I’m really looking forward to working with Karen, Ruth and Ann and sharing our love and knowledge of felting with lots of friends across the world 🙂
Hello my name is Karen and I live in the Coastal Town of Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia
I call myself a practicing fibre artist because I am fairly new and still have a lot to learn. I only discovered felting in 2008 and I’ve fallen in love with anything to do with fibre and felting. My collection and knowledge are growing every day and I’m so happy to be a part of this team of extremely talented ladies.
Felting 3, 2, 1
Q-3 Three types of fibre you can’t live without!
My favourite fibre I’m using at the moment is a blend of merino and blue faced Leicester, it’s an absolute dream to work with and the colors are amazing, I use it for all my background layouts. I also enjoy working with Romney Fibre as I find it nice and strong , but soft and luscious
Q-2 Two tools you use all the time!
I’m not sure I’d call them tools but I can’t live without bubble wrap and my trusty wooden dowel because without them it would be very hard to create a nice strong sheet of felt.
Q-1 One fibre art technique you love the most!
I’m concentrating on mixed media right now as I love how you can incorporate lots of different mediums into one piece like all different sorts of fibres, beads, threads, sequins, yarn . I think the possibilities are endless !
I’m in my element and I’m looking forward to this new adventure with my Fabulous Felting Friends who’s generosity and encouragement have meant the absolute world to me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New Album Cover
This is a sneak peek at my newest WIP. Its going to be an album cover for my Daughter In-laws mum to give to her for the birth of OUR first grandchild in approx 5 weeks time !! The white stitching is just the outline blocks so i stitch inbetween them with my pattern. I’ll hopefully be able to show more of this piece in my next post 🙂
Hello and welcome to the Felting and Fiber Studio. This site is the collaborative effort of four fiber artists from different corners of the world. My name is Ruth and I’m from the US, Ann is from Canada, Karen from Australia and Zed from the UK. We all enjoy felting and working with fiber. Our aim is to share our knowledge and love of felting with you and we’re eager to begin this new venture.
Nuno Felted Shawl by Ann
We have some very exciting plans for this site including studio challenges, tutorial based challenges with prizes, felting tips, and tutorials on a variety of fiber art topics. We love seeing what everyone else is up to in the felting world so we’ve started a Flickr group. You are more than welcome to join in and post photos of the various challenges that you take part in along with your other fiber art projects. Just click on the link and click on ‘Join This Group’.
A Mixed Media Piece in Progress by Karen
Please check out the various pages as we have lots of information about fiber and felting already available. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We may use your questions in our posts if the topic is one that is frequently asked. There are a few tutorials already posted and we’ll be adding more as we go along, so please check back often. (To make it even easier, you can follow our blog by clicking on the follow button on the sidebar.) If you have a request for a specific tutorial, please let us know and we’ll do our best to organize one. We will be posting on a variety of topics including felting, book and product reviews, guest artist features, fiber samples, the business end of selling fiber art, sheep farming facts and what we’re up to in our own studios.
Wet Felted Book Cover by Zed
Once a quarter, the four of us will be challenging each other with a theme for the next three months. These studio challenges will hopefully push us out of our comfort zone a little and encourage us to try different approaches to our felting and fiber art. Throughout that quarter, we’ll be posting periodically about the studio challenge. Please feel free to join in and challenge yourself as well. Post all the photos from the studio challenges in to the Flickr group. Please make sure to label the photos with the name of the challenge.
Silk Scarf by Ruth
In the next few posts, we’ll be introducing ourselves and answering a few questions about our favorite techniques, tools and fibers. We’ll also be posting the current studio challenge soon. You are more than welcome to leave a comment and introduce yourself. We are only able to reply to comments if your email is attached. We have lots of other exciting plans for being more interactive but we’ll let you know about those as they become more developed. We hope you really enjoy our new site and finds lots of information and inspiration. Please don’t forget to join our Flickr group and Thank you so much for stopping by!
